TOURISM AWARD WINNERS ANNOUNCED AT GLITTERING EVENT

The crème-de-la-crème of Staffordshire tourism and hospitality have been crowned at this year’s Enjoy Staffordshire Tourism and Good Food Awards.

Businesses from across the county gathered at the Doubletree by Hilton Stoke-on-Trent, for the glittering black-tie event, hosted by BBC Midlands Today’s Rebecca Wood.

An audience of more than 280 guests saw the winners of 20 categories announced, including National Memorial Arboretum (Large Visitor Attraction of the Year), Lower Drayton Farm (Small Visitor Attraction of the Year), and Lunar (Independent Restaurant of the Year).

The Tawny was named Hotel of the Year, while The Duncombe Arms, Ellastone, was Pub of the Year, and Pom’s Kitchen & Deli in Lichfield won the Tea Room/Coffee Shop of the Year award.

The Experience of the Year went to National Memorial Arboretum, for their Tailor Made Tour, while New Business of the Year was Lunar, and Denstone Hall Farm Shop, near Uttoxeter, was the Food & Drink Retailer/Farm Shop of the Year.

B&B and Guest House of the Year was Black Lion Inn, Butterton, and the Self-Catering Accommodation of the Year award went to Weston Park Holiday Cottages, on the Staffordshire-Shropshire border.

And there were wins for The ‘Stones’ Market, Newcastle-under-Lyme, in the Resilience & Innovation, The Trentham Estate’s Carol Adams in the Unsung Hero categories, and Alton Towers Resort, which was successful in the Accessible & Inclusive Tourism and the Ethical, Responsible & Sustainable Tourism categories for the second year running.

There was also a special award for Outstanding Contribution to Tourism in Staffordshire presented to Colin Sweeney, CEO of Weston Park, in recognition of his work to position the estate as a premier destination.

Philip White, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member with responsibility for tourism at Staffordshire County Council, said:

“Our annual tourism awards are an important event that we look forward to each year. They give us a great opportunity to celebrate all those working in the sector to give visitors a great experience of our wonderful county.

“We’re a brilliant visitor destination with so much on offer and I’d  like to say a huge congratulations to all the winners and to those highly recommended.  It’s great to see such a range of businesses from larger more established attractions to some of our smaller independently owned businesses being recognised.

“They should all be extremely proud of their achievements and the great job they do in attracting more and more visitors, generating millions of pounds per month for our economy and sustaining tens of thousands of jobs.”

The winners of 16 categories progress to represent Staffordshire at the national VisitEngland Awards for Excellence, to be held in June 2023.

Category sponsors at the 2023 Enjoy Staffordshire Tourism & Good Food Awards were Blue Sky Radio, cottages.com, Hoseasons, Pear Marketing, RH Advertising, Service Science, Simpleview Europe, Staffordshire Environmental Quality Mark and We are Staffordshire.

Full details of all winners can be found at www.enjoystaffordshire.com/awards